Some of you may remember John Radich, who started running on July 4 from the Santa Monica Pier eastward on Route 66 and then the Lincoln Highway toward Atlantic City, N.J.
According to a report by The Evening Sun of Hanover, Pa., Radich made it to New Oxford, Pa., on Tuesday. That puts him fewer than 200 miles remaining in his 3,700-mile trek. He’s averaged 40 miles a day.
Radich hopes to make it to the Atlantic Ocean by Thanksgiving.
In Needles, Calif., in the Mojave Desert, Radich pushed himself to keep going despite 122-degree temperatures.
“It was like running with a hair dryer in your face on high,” he said. […]
Subsisting mostly on energy drinks, cranberry juice, raisins, nuts, peanut butter and bagels, Radich has lost 15 pounds since he started.
“You can eat pretty healthy when you travel, but you’re burning up a lot of energy,” he said. “You have to watch your diet.”
Radich is running because he always was fascinated by the Bunion Derby, the transcontinental footrace that took place on Route 66 in 1928. He’s also raising money for the Way to Happiness Foundation, started by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Radich worked for the foundation for 20 years, which tries to keep youths off of drugs and build character.
Is the route 66 the road on Forest Gump?
Steve